It is no fun to feel left out, to see that the teacher, or even one of your parents, has favorites, but you’re not one of them. It would be even worse if we felt that God had favorites, and we weren’t one of them, either! The good news is that God does not have favorites, and shows no partiality towards anyone! We see this clearly in our Scripture passage today.
As our passage opens, the Apostle Peter is sharing a Gospel message of salvation to a Roman centurion named Cornelius, along with his family and friends. Earlier in the passage the Lord had given Peter a series of visions, instructing him not to think of, or call any group of people “unclean”. When Jesus had ascended up to heaven, He had given the disciples explicit instructions to spread the Gospel to all nations and peoples. Some time had passed now, and with the exception of a few Samaritans, the Gospel had only been shared with Jewish people. God gave Peter this vision in order to encourage him to spread the message to the Gentiles, as well. God gave another vision to the Roman Cornelius to seek Peter out and hear his message, and this is where our passage begins.
Peter’s opening statement is that he now realizes that God shows no partiality to anyone or any group of people. He has no favorites. Everyone is welcome to come to Him, if they so choose to. It’s not like school, where only certain favored ones get picked to be on a team. God wants to include everyone. God has only one flock. The flock has only one Shepherd. It was Jesus’s plan all along that the Gentiles would be brought into His flock (John 10:16). Those who opposed that were going against God, and were fighting against Him.
It is not enough that people seek after God. They have to find Him. Cornelius was seeking God, but he needed to hear about salvation through Jesus. It wasn’t enough for him to just seek God. How can they find God unless someone tells them of Him? (Romans 10:14-15). God needed to get Peter to fully obey, and spread the message to the Gentles. Peter needed to share the message of Jesus with Cornelius. We have that task, too. Some may be called to be a missionary, and go to foreign lands. All of us, though, are called to share the Gospel with our families, friends, and neighbors.
Peter’s message was not a long, drawn out one, with many deep theological points. A Gospel witness doesn’t have to be a long and deep theological treatise. One doesn’t need many university degrees to spread the message of Jesus. We just need to point the way to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). We need to share with as many as we can the message of Jesus’s death on the cross, paying the price for our sins, and establishing peace between God and man. Believing in Jesus is the means of salvation, faith in Jesus alone (vs. 43).
God is very clear throughout the Bible, that the Gospel message of salvation is for everyone! Unfortunately, not everyone responds, and they will be left out. However, we need to make sure that we do not put up any barriers in our churches that make people feel unwelcome. There should be no barriers of race, nationality, economic, or educational level. All should be welcomed because Jesus welcomes all. God calls out to everyone to come! Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely!” (Revelation 22:17). You are a “whosoever”. Everyone, no matter what your national background is, falls into that group, and God calls you all to come.
Yay! Claim it!
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